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These 3 hacks will make you play the violin like a pro

In this day and age, “hacking” things have become the norm. We like to think that we can hack out body, mind, and spirit in our pursuit of higher and higher achievement. To some extent this is true because in every system is a loophole, no matter our diligence in securing it.

When it comes to playing the violin, there are some “hacks” that you can apply to your every day practice in order to hyper-speed your progress.

WARNING: The hacks listed below will make you play more accurately, consistently and with more emotion. You have been warned.

Be Relaxed: One of the first hacks you can apply today is to hack your nervous system by overriding the feeling of anxiety. You can do this simply be concentrating on your breath every time you pick up your instrument. This will train your brain and body to be in a relaxed state when your instrument is in your hands. We become stressed via triggers. These triggers can be caused by past experiences, environment and other people. By concentrating on your breath and relaxing your muscles you will open up your tone and notice your volume to increase. You will need to control this new found power — but I trust you can manage better tone. 🙂

Focus On ONE Thing: Don’t discount the simplicity of this hack. This means you will NOT focus on multiple things that you need to work on in your practice. It means that you will focus on ONE things — thats it. Scales? No, Scale. Songs? No . song. Every component of your playing should be broken down into a singular task that you can singularly focus on. This will completely change the game for you and your playing. Your accuracy will become better, with in increase in tone consistency. Make sure to always ask; “Is this the ONE THING that will make me better?”

Increase Your Personal Standard: This is a mental hack. You will need to bypass your old way of thinking and start applying a new standard that is way higher than where you are currently. If your standard rises then you playing will rise. Your personal standard is the part of you that sets the ideal for the moment. If your ideal for the moment is only slightly above where you are, you won’t strive to get it. If your ideal is massively higher than where you are, you will strive to hit that higher target. Then, once you have set that standard as where you NEED to be, then your “must” has changed. This will drastically change the game for you in every way possible. Raise your standard — raise your playing!